Tangled the Series: At Last
by Eilaf-of-Old-Corona
Summary: A story following the adventures of our favourite Coronans, starting with Varian's way to redemption, and his meeting with someone that shall help him through his way to find more about his family's past, ending with Rapunzel and her friends defending Corona from the grave danger of the dark ancient sorcerer, Zhan Tiri.
1. Prologue

**.••••.**

Deep in the forest, on a tree, there was a wanted poster that says Varian the Alchemist, with a little boy's face painted on it.

" This is the story of how I died... "

" _Eugene_. "

" Alright! Alright...heh, this is the story of how we all nearly died. "

" It was truly an unforgettable adventure of ours, and I hope we get into more! It was so exciting! "

" Yeah, can't say I fully agree with that, Blondie, but I won't lie, it was truly unforgettable...and pretty much complicated at the same time, that I can't actually tell when did it start...! "

" Well, you do remember that after the events in Old Corona we went to follow the path of the black rocks and- "

" That long, endless path of shadows and darkened dangerous mysteries..."

"Aw don't be too grumpy! I'm sure we're getting to its end soon! "

" We were halfway there and bam, evil destroyed our achievement! "

" That's true, but you can't forget about Varian and Caitriona. "

" Completely complicated! "

" Extremely extraordinary! "

A guard with a black mustache came by, took the poster off the tree, crumbled it and it was fed to a goat that followed the guard.

There was that dark time in the land of The Seven Kingdoms, when an ancient evil sorcerer found a way to take over the control of all the means of the dark magic in the land and used it to take over The Seven Kingdoms. Zhan Tiri used his powers to force people to obey his orders, collected wicked minions to apply his needs and summoned dark hideous creature to strengthen his army of evil forces. But there was that young but strong kingdom which fought against Zhan Tiri with all what it has, the bright Kingdom of Corona. The royals and folks of Corona refused to follow Zhan Tiri's orders, refused to be slaves under the hands of that being of wickedness, so the war between the two sides started with countless battles, and their leader in this war was the most intelligent engineer and inventor in all of the land, Lord Demanitus.

Demanitus used both science and magic to fight against Zhan Tiri, he used his brain to invite new machines and weapons to defeat his enemy, and the royals gave him the permission to be the one responsible for any magical aggressions against the kingdom, whether from Zhan Tiri or any magical being out there.

And it was a beautiful starry night, when Demanitus found the solution, the key to beat Zhan Tiri once and for good, or at least that what he thought.

Demanitus lived in a manor that he built in the borders of the land, where he and his fellows and disciples chose the spot to be their main base, for many reasons such as that is was abutting the new wall, in that night, he was working inside his lab, which was a special certainly-built room. There was no light coming from the windows, neither from candles or such, but from the many many chemicals that stood on the table he was standing in front of. Demanitus was holding two flasks of glowing liquids in his large gloved hands, shaking one of them slightly, his good eye examined the liquid carefully when it turned from dark crimson red into a light orange colour, he slowly put the flasks on the table and went to open a wooden cupboard standing by the wall, he came back with a small beautiful fist-sized dark pink jewel, it shimmered in his hand as he took out a wide open wooden plate, for he knew that wood would not have a reaction to his compounds, he held the orange chemical up and made sure to add only three drops onto the gem, he waited for the reaction, lowering his head hesitantly, the reflection of the glimmering pink figure and the glowing orange drops appearing on the the metallic triangle piece that cover the left side of his face. For seconds, he was surprised how his formula didn't case anything to the jewel, but then and to his relief the jewel started glowing brightly, a smile of satisfaction appeared on his face as the jewel broke the law of colours and turned into a light green shade, he paced across the room toward a big box, knelt on the ground and opened it, he carefully took out a magnificent device that was inside a capsule made of clear new glass, the capsule had a single hole on the top, this invention contained a thick marble pillar with a black base made of a special element that he himself created, the base, which the glass didn't cover, was made of three layers of that black stone, the upper one connected to the glass, the middle one was thin, it had hilts fixed to its sides, the lower layer was connected to a second wall of glass, under the base there were many gears that controlled the movements of the device, and under the gears there was a simple wooden base for the device to sit on the ground firmly. The upper part of the device was bigger, it held a circle standing horizontally, it was made of a red, light in weight, kind of stone. The circle was attached to a rectum made of dark brown metal, a small golden ball stood at the middle of the rectum, and at the tip it was shaped to hold the jewel. Demanitus paced back to his table with the invention in his hands, after putting in on the table he slowly took the glass capsule off the device and delicately placed the light green gemstone onto it, he put the glass capsule back on, took the device in his hand once again and stepped to the door, he walked outside his lab to an empty room, one dark empty room, the gem glowed brightly in the darkness that he didn't need to hold any lantern in hands, on the left side of the room there was a set of stairs, he walked upstairs to the next floor and was met by another large door at the end of the stairs, he then had to walk across another room, this room was dark as well, and it held a long large table with many chairs at each side and a bigger chair made of iron in the head.

Demanitus went up another staircase, his footsteps echoing in the calm ambience, it took him a while this time, for he was climbing up a tower, his paces finally came to a halt under a trapdoor, he pushed it open and stepped into a blank area with a low roof, he put the device in the middle of the room and grabbed a rope that was dangling aside, he started pulling it with both hands, causing the roof to gradually open. Level after level, the lots that covered the roof moved down and only its inner structure was left, revealing the sky and the wonderful view of the countless stars that lays upon the dark black carpet, and letting the cold night breeze brush against the old man's tired face. Demanitus took a deep breath of the cooling air and looked outside, the scene didn't impress him much, he had seen it many times by now. He knelt down next to his invention and used his fingers to click on the sides of the tiny hilts, causing them to turn in turn, he kept on pushing the small pieces consecutively, the gears started to roll slowly and so did the red circle that held the gem, everything started to go faster, and as the gem circled around the pillar bright green sparks started to come out of it, striking the glass roughly. The light got brighter and suddenly a strong blow of wind was sensed and a miniaturized tornado started to form out of the capsule's upper hole. Demanitus stood up when the device kept on working automatically, he took a few steps back and watched as the tornado got stronger and stronger with each second, and the wind was rapidly blowing the cloak he wore, the sound of it hitting his ears loudly, but the lord's concerns weren't on that, he focused on the gem and its orbit, his eyes narrowed and he raised his hand as a shield from light and wind. If everything went right, the device should keep working until Demanitus stops it by himself, if not, then the gem would glow brighter and brighter 'till it won't be able to hold more energy and it would shatter into tens of pieces. And to the inventor's dismays, that just happened. And the gemstone shattered after an explosion, destroying the glass with pieces of it spreading into the air, curse impact force, and all over the place. Demanitus shielded himself by his thick cloak, and after the smoke that the covered the place was gone he took a look at the mess before him, he mentally furrowed his eyebrows in frustration when he saw the bits of glass and jewels on the ground, but he couldn't deny his relief because the rest of the device was good and not harmed at all. His choice of elements wasn't fully successful.

Lord Demanitus gave a heavy desperate sigh and walked to his horribly looking invention, he bent down and gathered a few pieces of the jewel, his mind drifted into deep thoughts as he fiddled with them in his right hand, with a groan of exhaustion he clutched them tightly and stood up, he put his hands firmly behind his back and tried to distract himself by the view, distract himself from his constant failures.

" A few days, you could say, and then you'll need to pray, for the wind will make her way, to you and despite your may, will destroy everything you held, beware the wind! "

Those words echoed in his mind, those of Sugracha the Eternal's, he was warned, he knew what to do, but he just needed the right stone to complete his plan. He looked up at the stars and his brain started wandering through the formulas he had tried on different stones and gems, this caused him a slight headache, he messaged his temple with his left hand closing his eye shut for a moment. Suddenly, his rope of thoughts was cut by the cry of one of his men.

"Lord Demanitus!! Sir! You need to look Westwards!" He heard one of the guards calling for him, Demanitus looked down with surprise at the man for seconds, who was pointing with a panic look at something in the west of the sky, Demanitus looked up searching in the sky for what the man was referring to, it didn't take him a second, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped, so did the bits of jewel in his hand, at the sight of a large figure crossing the dark inky-blue horizon with a high unimaginable speed, glimmering with a breath taking icy-blue colour, making its way right towards the earth with a whitish blue aura around it.

"Merlin's beard..."

Demanitus couldn't believe his eye as the figure, which he assumed was a comet, passed right before him and fell into the woods with a great blast, blowing out many trees and causing some poor, actually lucky, frightened birds to fly away. Quicker than he actually intended, Demanitus found himself at the bottom of the stairs and rushing toward the gate.

"Tell the men to prepare the horses! I need five of you ready in minutes!" He shouted for the two guards who were standing there, staring with worry and astonished from the view , they snapped off their astonishment and ran to obey the orders. Demanitus wasn't sure if it was a natural case, or an unexpected attack from Zhan Tiri and his minions, so this was just a reconnoitring group. After a few moments, he was looking at the smoke coming out the place of explosion from far away, it was still glowing brightly in the distance.

"We're ready, sir." He heard sounds of hooves and whinnies behind, and turned to find his men ready on horses, and his own black stallion waiting for its rider, he quickly climbed up his horse and they all made their way to the darkness of the forest.

The loud sound of horses' hooves pounding against the ground filled the forest as Lord Demanitus and his men advanced toward the location where the comet crushed into, and when they reached the spot, one of them gasped softly at how wide and clear the area was, and there was a big crater-like hole in the ground where the alien rock fell. Demanitus and three of his men jumped down their horses, while two of them were kept on to watch around the area for any possible danger, the leader approached the huge rock slowly and the men followed behind after drawing out their swords, ready for whatever happens, and when reached the edge after their leader, they couldn't help but become all amazed at the sight. Now that he sees it clearly, Demanitus admired the fact that it wasn't actually a rock, but it was a fabulous diamond-like element shinning with life through hatches and holes, those were on a thick black cover of a charcoal-ly substance.

And as the light fell upon him, a million ideas appeared in his brilliant mind.

 **Words Count: 2242.**

 **Pretty proud of myself there, the thing is big.**


	2. CH: 1 ( Deeply Imprisoned )

...••••

Darkness, it was all what he could see, he looked around in a panic, searching for anyone, any signs of life, any light that he could follow, but there was nothing. Everything felt so hollow and dead, and he couldn't bear it.

"H- hello! Can- can anyone hear me? Is a- anyone here?!" He shouted desperately, there was no answer but his voice, that echoed grimly in his ears. Suddenly, he felt an unendurable achiness hitting his head like a hammer, he yelped in pain and held his head in his hand, dizziness started to take over him as a dim purple light started to appear from a distance. He fell to his knees, shutting his eyes close, his heartbeats quickened, he tried to take deep breaths to steady it, or to decrease the ache in his head, neither way it worked. He tried to open his eyes, only to shut them and look down again when he was struck by a blinding purple light, it felt wrong to even look at it, he slowly opened them, his gaze rising from the cold ground beneath him, his scared pale blue eyes, met a couple of terrifying, hideous black ones. A few foots before him a great purple red fire was burning, thought he couldn't feel any warmth at all, and over the burning mess stood a massive black figure, hundred times his size, its tall body holding a pair of large hands, which seemed to have Sharp claws at each end, and its head was that of a monster, it had a long and thin jaw, with sharp fangs peeking out, the figure had two huge twisted horns at each side of its ugly head, its black eyes were looking deadly into him.

"Who-.." No, no that wasn't the right question. "What are you?!"

He wanted to run but he couldn't, the pain in his head grew worst with each second, he held his head tighter and yelped more. The figure's hands moved up and it started to murmur words that he couldn't understand at all, but he knew something bad was going to happen, his eyes widened as a shinning ball of energy started to form in the figure's big hands, and rising them up more, a strong shot if power was heading towards him, his body tensed then froze in fear, he looked away shutting his eyes, waiting for was expected to be a huge wave of agony, but after seconds, there was nothing. Now there was a bright blue light shimmering in front of him, and he could finally feel a bit of security and warmth.

A woman was standing before him, her hands stretched in the air holding what seemed to be a massive shield that protected them from the powerful purple red fire. His sight was blurry, his head was aching and he hadn't seen her for way too long, but he recognized her, with his heart. Those feelings, of protection, of longing, of care, of love.

"Come on, son, I need you to listen to me," She called over her shoulder, struggling to keep the shield between the two of them and the monster, he looked at her with astonishment and pain all over his face.

"Please, get up, get away, run. I know you're tired of it, but please do it for me, for your mother, please..." She pleaded, her voice shaking with fear and grieve, thought it still holds the tender tone.

He had to obey her orders, to run, for her, his mother. He pushed himself up with all the strength he had, his slender legs slowly carrying him away from the danger, he walked with all his body aching, holding his head with a hand, and trying to keep balance by the other. Unfortunately he fell down again, he let out shaky breaths, blinking tightly with each inhale, he pulled himself up again and paced a few steps away, but then he has done something very regretful, he looked back, and when he did, his jaw dropped at the sight of the huge shield shattering into pieces then disappearing in a blink, and the purple red fire has covered the spot where his mother stood, he shook his head in disbelief.

His mother was in danger, and he was running away? What sort of a person is he?

"Mum.." He whispered breathlessly. "Mum!!" Suddenly a strong wave of energy was filling his body, he started _running_ , running back towards her, he couldn't help losing her, not again. "No! No, NO!! Mum!! No!!!" He cried out with fright, everything was getting away from his sight, the monster and his fire were fading away, and no matter how much he ran, he didn't advance an inch. His eyes began to water, then hot tears streamed down his face as shouted more. "No! Mum! Please, no, no! No..."

He could see a small hint of the same blue light shimmering above him, before the sound of shattering glass and ceramic was heard.

As the sun slowly raised, her great beams of light appearing far away in the horizon, the moon said his goodbyes to the world, and promised to brighten the next night to become. The sky was filling itself with colours to welcome the day happily, colours shifting from the yellowish white to the dark inky black, with stars slightly appearing at the tips of the sight. The light greeted the land of Corona, with the help of some clouds which caused it to shatter into large golden paths touching the high spots, Corona Mountains. But for human beings, the tallest landmark to come into the mind is the magnificent Castle of Corona, home of the beloved royal family and many other noble people. And it was the first to face the sun, the long windows of the castle returned the greet with shimmering reflections.

But there was that single long window, with a different atmosphere, a big window with bars on the outside, opening to an approximately isolated, private part of the castle. This particular room was the one supposed to be the cell that holds a single certain person, someone who's known to be Corona's most dangerous criminal ever, for his crimes had badly crossed the line of the law, and roughly stepped on the logical limited abilities of someone at his age.

His name was Varian. For the people of Corona, very little was known about him, even that little wasn't good, but now, for what he has done, he became very well known to everyone for...bad things as well, such as almost killing off all of the royal family by using giant ancient technology.

Things, crimes, that seemed impossible to the mind was planned and applied by his mind, Varian made complex chemicals, built menacing massive machines, outfought with brilliant plans, but the thing that made Corona's criminals feel like little whimps, that he's only a boy, a teenager at the age of fourteen, a boy with a very high level of intelligence, and resourcefulness that can fascinate the mind.

But why would a child do such things?

Strange, how the darkness of anger and vengeance can creep into the kindest of hearts, when accompanied by the hurt and grieve of losing what was loved. For he was one of those who loved. Who loved to help who's in need, who loved to show what they're capable of but with great intentions, who loved the idea of having friends by your side and knowing how important they are to you, who loved their dear loved family and wanted to make them proud. But it was all taken away and the love inside his heart disappeared.

Varian's days in prison would have been easier, if his feelings didn't make it hard for him; Fear and sadness forbid him from sleep, hate and vengeance never let him talk to anyone or accept anything, anger told him to to never forget, never forgive.

And this was another day, another day for nightmares to hunt him.

Varian's body was launched with fright out of the bed he's been sleeping in, falling with a loud thump to the ground, and a louder yelp escaped the boy's tired throat. The guards out of his living quarters , Pete and Stan, were alarmed by his scream and the noise of objects crushing harshly, they opened the door made of bars to be surprised by the scene, the boy was as surprised as them. Varian was breathing heavily, heart pounding strongly against his chest and sweat running down his face, neck and body, his wide eyes started at the ground, which was covered by what was once everything breakable in his room, his gaze slowly turned to the mirror, his shaky reflection looking at him through cracked glass, it was broken as well. After a moment of silent, another sound was heard, that of a worried, concerned, little raccoon. Varian's pale blue eyes met those deep dark green of his small companion, Ruddiger. The guards watched as the raccoon advanced hesitantly towards his human friend, the poor critter was sleeping peacefully next to the kid, then he was suddenly knocked off the bed. The raccoon put his paws on Varian's lab chittering in worry, the boy looked down at his friend, his eyes softened and his breath calmed, he raised a hand to dry the sweat off his forehead, then ran it through his hair, taking a deep inhale, he leaned the back of his head on the bed behind him and closed his eyes tightly, but then he broke, tears ran down his face and soft sobs were let out before he burried his head in his arms. Ruddiger cooed sadly, he gently nuzzled his head to Varian's side. Pete and Stan shared a look, then decided to try and calm him down, both walked through the room, making sure to not step on pieces of glass, Ruddiger looked at them with a pleading look when they stood before the boy, the two guards looked at each other again, Pete gestured for Stan to do it, Stan shook his in defence and gestured for Pete to do it, Pete sighed, none of them wanted anything to do with Varian, because every time they tried to talk to him he would either ignore them or send them glares that could torn them up in pieces if it was real, Stan grimaced at the thought of that one time they tried to apologize for taking him away from the princess, in that one horrible stormy day, it was the last time they tried to talk and they never tried again.

Pete kneeled on the ground after cleaning away a bit of ceramic, he hesitantly placed a hand on Varian's shaky shoulder, "Hey, kid-" his hand was harshly taken off when Varian yanked his shoulder away, the kid managed to stand up quickly, he dried his eyes and climbed up his bed again, and he was setting there, his side against the wall, not facing any of them, eyes closed as he took shaky breaths and sniffed slightly.

Pete stood up and Stan put a hand on his shoulder, both looked at the ground, disappointed, their help had been rejected, again. Stan said that he would bring a maid to clean the mess, and the two of them went out after closing the door, Pete stood next to the entrance.

Nightmares had been chasing Varian since a week after his arrival to Corona's Castle, after the Battle of Old Corona, after it all happened. But what sort of nightmares were those, he couldn't tell, he couldn't find any possible explanation of them, he couldn't understand them. What was that monster? What was his mother doing there? Why should he stay away? Why couldn't the monster just burn him off and leave his mother alone? Why his mother?

He knew one thing, he hated them, just like how he hated every single thing happening to him nowadays.

In the Castle, King Frederic decided that, as a mercier punishment than going to the dungeons, Varian would be working in social services around the kingdom, for he knows what the boy is capable of, and the King wanted his folk to gradually get used to the boy, and maybe some work and time alone will get him back his sense, of course, the boy didn't like the idea at all, he would rather stay in a cell than working for those who ' betrayed ' him, but he doesn't have a say in this.

He was told that he would get all the help he needs. ' Stop speaking like I have mental issues! ' that what he thought, he should give way more credits to the royals, they actually treated him very well, he wasn't in a cell, there was an abandoned guests room in the farthest of the Castle, were no one used to stay, which was turned to a proper place for him, he cannot be left in the jail with the other criminals, he was a minor, a kid after all, the room was just changed a bit, the door was replaced by long black bars, and there were bars covering the outside of the long window on the wall across the door, the furniture were his bed, a chair and table, a mirror on the wall next to the table. And there was a bathroom.

And now he was watching the sunrise through his window, and Ruddiger was curled near him, Varian inhaled deeply, another day of work was about to begin, he released his breath and took his raccoon in his hands, he stroked the fur of the little critter tenderly, "Hey, Ruddiger," the raccoon peered up at his owner, the look on Varian's face made him sad, ears went down, waiting for him to finish, "I…Sorry for scaring you, again," Varian spoke calmly, then finally looked down at his friend to see his reaction, the raccoon slowly climbed up to Varian's shoulder, then chittered lightly, a bright expression on his furry face as in saying that he's not bothered. Varian couldn't help but crack a smile to his little companion as the critter rubbed his head against the boy's freckled cheek, then he leaned slightly to the critter's comfort, eyes closed in peace. Frankly, Ruddiger was the best thing to happen to him, the loyal animal chose to stay by Varian's side, comforting him and trying to help as much as he can, even after all what happened, when Varian didn't find anyone on his side, this little buddy stayed, even after what Varian himself done to the raccoon, which was something the boy really regretted, Ruddiger knew that Varian wasn't in his sense when he did so. Ruddiger knew that Varian needed help, but in the right way. But the raccoon also couldn't hide his feeling of guilty, for he has a hand, or a paw, in Varian's imprisonment, but the worst would have happened if the raccoon didn't do it. Varian looked down in shame, he also had his own feeling of guilty, actually this was the only thing that he regrets, he felt bad for the raccoon to be locked here with him. Ruddiger has done nothing wrong! By his own well at least, and now he's paying for Varian's actions. The boy huffed and scratched the back of Ruddiger's ear, the only thing that he can do to show his gratitude is to care more and show more compassion toward his little friend, his only friend.

But then something hit his mind, he looked down at the floor, the shattered glass and ceramic there, the more he looked the more confusing it gets, his eyes narrowed in examining. "H- how did this all happen?" he asked his little friend, Ruddiger only gave a look of concern and shook his head, his was asleep when it happened. If a cup near him was shattered he wouldn't be confused, maybe he kicked it in his sleep or something, but it was everything breakable in his room, everything, even the mirror, it was still on the wall though, but it was cracked with little pieces on the ground. Everything was shattered, and not in place. The cup on his table was now broken near the window, the plate too was near the door, there was even a small vase with flowers, it was on the table but now it was somehow under it, that one really terrified him.

Varian was a human of logic, he couldn't accept the idea that something abnormal happened, he didn't want to accept it, special to him, he hated magic and anything related to it, it wasn't actual hate, at first he didn't believe in magic, being ' a man of science ', but then magic became the reason his plan failed, then he hated it from the bottom of his cold cracked heart, and he will not trust magic again, good or bad, he will never trust it again.

Suddenly he gasped, his hand searched his head in a panic, Ruddiger jumped on the bed from the sudden action, then Varian began searching on his bed, the sheets were thrown to the ground, then the pillow, then he was relieved, relieved to find his goggles save under his pillow, not shattered like the rest of his stuff.

His fingers graced the round glass, his reflection appearing on it, he looked awful with his hair sticking in all the directions and the bags under his eyes, said fear has forbidden him from sleep, every time he would try to get some rest, every time he's woken up by terrifying nightmares, he preferred to avoid them by avoiding the sleep. He sighed, exhausted he was, then held his goggles close to his chest. After a moment, he looked down at Ruddiger by his side, then patted the critter's head. "Guess it's another boring day, buddy, who knows, maybe I'll finish Monty's stupid sweet shifter, and give him a little extra surprise, " Varian smirked in mockery, Ruddiger didn't like how it sounds, he tilted his head in disapproval, the raccoon still didn't get used to Varian's new sarcastic cold self, though he knows the boy's true colors, oh how much he missed the cheerful happy helpful alchemist, Ruddiger knew that Varian would have been so delighted to do such useful services to the kingdom, he would have been so happy to help people, but not now, not after what happened, not in this situation.

Then Varian stood up to get ready for his day at work, the boy has his high place between criminals, he can't let people see him like that.

 **Words Count** : **3128.**

 **This was hard** , **but so fun at the same time**. **Question tho** , **do you think my writing style is good?**


	3. CH: 2 ( Work and Pain )

After breakfast, the room was all cleaned up, and Ruddiger was looking through the large window when Varian was taken out of the castle's walls, with Pete, Stan and the Captain of the Guards.

The castle's town was so alive like always, people were going in and out of shops, chatting with friends, selling goods or food, having fun with their families or just walking around randomly, the streets were loud and busy with talks and footsteps, but then everything started to calm down, people's faces turned all in the direction where the boy and the guards were coming from, one solemn look from the Captain made everyone turn back to what they were doing, thought still, when Varian passed past them he would hear murmuring, probably about him, his eyes focused on the road, but the muttering and whispering of people made him throw glances and silent glare here and there, folks did the same. Cold stares, narrowed glances, glares of hate and disapproval were thrown at him from many directions, Varian tried to ignore those eyes, those whispers of discomfort, as much as he can. His teeth clutched each other tightly in anger, he couldn't bear the attention and humiliation he's being through, although he has tasted it so many times by now, it burnt him from the inside. But still, he wasn't in the mood for troubles, and a shady spot of a shop saved him, a blacksmith's workshop. What better way to distract yourself from people other than hard hand working. The four of them reached their standpoint, Xavier's work, Xavier was a blacksmith working in the town, but now his shop was closed because he has an important task to accomplish in elsewhere in the kingdom, and he agreed to let Varian work in his shop when needed. Monty's candy shifter was a pretty big machine, Varian needed to build it first then bring it to the Sweet Shop, actually this was one of the biggest works that Varian had done in the town, he would usually fix something or such, but this was an invention that he designed and built, also the first invention ever that he hated working on. Varian entered with Pete and Stan, while the Captain said that he has other duties to finish.

"I need you two to- "

"Keep a good eye on me blah blah blah, don't you think they got it?"

The Captain glared at Varian's sassy tune, the boy was gazing away with an annoyed expression, the Captain took a deep breath to prevent himself from doing something wrong, then walked off. Pete and Stan stared after the Captain who clutched his hands into fists, but then calmed down.

"Hello! Mind taking those off?" Varian said sarcastically, more annoyed, raising his handcuffed hands, "Oh." Pete unlocked the cuffs while Stan brought the uncompleted machine, Varian rubbed his free wrists and winced a bit, he glared at Stan who was already avoiding any eye contact, the boy walked to the machine and took the large piece of fabric that covered it off, then gazed at it along with the two guards, the machine was designed to shift the sweet batter into different shapes, it uses the power of steam that can be pumped into it. Varian sighed through his nose, people don't decide to accept what he's yearned to give until he's under the hands of the royals, if Monty needed the shifter, why didn't he look for someone to make it for him, through news, rumors and people the old man would have eventually stumbled upon Varian's house and the alchemist would have been delighted to help. Now that he doesn't want to help, they ask?

Varian thought that destiny was playing some sort of a game with him, and of course he didn't enjoy it.

The machine was completed, but there was only the shapes the he needed to make and attached them to it, he walked to a table that had some papers on it, on the papers the drawings of the shapes which Monty has chose, he flipped through them with bored eyes, some of the shapes were very simple, like squares, triangles, stars , some were a bit complicated, like a small tree, a flower, a bird, but when his eyes landed on the last one, he breath halted in his throat, it was a drawing of a circle with three slashes coming out its left side, the pain in his head was back, this time real and way worst, he shouted, throwing the papers to the ground, then groaned while holding his head, he leant on the table to not fall, something flashed in his mind, an image of a fair white hand, that of a young woman, with the same mark on it, it was gently holding a smaller hand in it. Then the image disappeared and so did the pain, Varian's breaths quickened, his wide eyes gazed hesitantly at the drawings, he took them in his hands again and that's when he realized, the mark wasn't even there, it was only a drawing of a peacock with a fat body and three long feathers that formed its tail.

"Boy, you ok?" Varian heard Pete saying, but ignored him and focused on the drawing. "If you want, you can take some tim-"

"I'm fine!" The boy snapped, eyes cold on the two guards who looked confused at his actions. He put the papers back on the table and massaged his temple, he thought about it for a moment, was he hallucinating? He figured out that it's the lake of sleep he's getting that caused something to his mind, he decided to push everything away, finish his work then worry about anything else, and so he started working, he held a piece of by a tong, heated it up in the forge, extended it, banged on it with a hammer, wiped some sweat from his forehead, heated it a bit again, detailed it, blew on it, banged more, sat down and drank some water, and lastly, he cooled it up in water, and the hollow shape of a little bird was ready. Varian held his work up, he narrowed his eyes examining it, when he was sure that it was done he put it aside and immediately turned to work on the next one. Pete and Stan were watching from behind, if Varian wasn't too harsh with them, they wouldn't complain about this duty, watching his work gave a different feeling, even though he's forced to do it, he still do it right for some reason, he doesn't mess things up, he works patiently neatly, he just doesn't want to work on something twise. And the two guards found it interesting to see how much effort he puts into anything, even if his effort wasn't out of good well.

It was already evening, when Varian but attached the last shape of a star to the rubber belt on the machine, then settled himself down on a stool to rest, his legs hurt him from the long duration of standing, his arms muscles felt stiff, he rubber his necked and looked up at the machine to admire his work, his arms rested on his knees as he eyed it oddly , this was an invention of his, even though he hated it, but it still was something out of his mind and hands, something that he worked hard on to give it to someone, and he couldn't help but feel something towards it, something he felt whenever he's done working on a functional invention, he felt proud, though he denied it, but he felt proud of himself.

Pete and Stan realized that he finished, they stood besides him and admired it with him. "Great job, kid!" Stan complimented with a nod.

"Thanks." Varian said mindlessly, the two men looked at him with surprise, this was the nicest thing he had ever said to them, and he didn't realize, Stan and Pete grinned to each other, then smiled down at him.

The three of them took off, with Stan rolling the invention, towards Uncle Monty's, the streets were still full of people, some of them stared at the huge covered figure that was rolled across the street, some huddled around a man who fixed a new poster to the news board, the poster had a picture of some acrobats forming a human pyramid, with a little girl with long hair and a proud smile standing on top of them, down was written: The Cebricus Circus is coming to Corona. The man held more posters and fixed then at random spots, and went on to continue with the rest of the town. Varian's eyes wandered to the crowds around the posters, but he considered it as another wanted person, and thought that maybe he would get a chance to escape if the guards put their concerns on other criminals more than him.

The bell on the Sweet Shop's door rang as Pete opened it and let Varian and Stan with the machine come in, the delightful aroma of sweets, chocolate and cupcakes filled the place, there was also the laughter of children who were paying snacks and running around joyfully, the shelves and cupboards were beautifully decorated with the many Colours of different sweets inside jars, the front sight held amazing statues made out of candies and sugar. One of the kids was skipping with a huge lollipop in her hand, big enough to not let her see what was in front, what caused her to bump into Varian, the little girl looked up in surprise, only to back off in fear of the guards, handcuffed boy, and huge machine standing before her, she accidentally knocked a jar off the shelf, fortunately, good old Uncle Monty caught it before it could crush into the ground, "Oy, be careful there, child," the old man said, his voice had a slight groan in it at first, but then he smiled warmly at the little girl, she nodded then headed out the shop, "Sorry uncle Monty! Goodbye uncle Monty!" She half screamed and then ran through the gap between Varian and guards, and more children followed her out, Varian gave a short huff of amusement before rolling his eyes, Monty put the jar back on the shelf, then his eyes landed on them, his warm smile went colder, thought he's still smiling. "Why, it's my favourite two guards!" He said brightly, "Pete!" "Good evening Uncle Monty!" "Stan!" "Hello Uncle Monty!" They greet each other, Monty's gaze turned to Varian who was looking anywhere but not at the old man, "And our little prodigy, Varian," the boy eyed Monty with an expressionless face, old man frowned, not an annoyed grumpy frown, but a rather sad one.

Some Coronans fought in the Battle of Old Corona, they know what Varian has done, what he turned himself into, and most of them knew how he was, Uncle Monty was one of those, he has known Varian, the boy would always come to his shop when he visits the town with his father, he would always buy chocolate chips to make cookies back at his house, he was so joyful and kind back then.

"Well, " Monty struggled to get his smile back, "I have some more customers to take care off. Stan, why don't you put the thing in the back? Oh and on your way can you tell Attila to make more apple pies?" He said kindly, Stan nodded and pushed the machine towards a door in the back, Monty has learned how to use it the day before, so he didn't need any help by now. And the three of them left.

Varian was turned back to the castle, and after a hard half day of work, nothing could cheer him up but the usual joyful greet of his raccoon, and that he was told to have the rest of the day off.

"It's getting really dangerous your Highness, this time we found everything broken, it's...it's really creepy," Pete was saying, grimacing a bit. "And we really can't understand it." Hesaid with a worried look.

The woman before them saddened, she have been told about the things happening in the boy's room, and today's news weren't good.

"His nightmares are getting worst everyday, your majesty," Pete spoke again, Stan, who was standing next to him, gave a nod.

The queen, Arianna of Corona paced before them, hummingdeep in thoughts.

"Did-..did he say anything during his sleep?" She stopped to ask them, eyes concerned about their young prisoner.

"Yes, yes in fact, your highness, " Pete started, then looked at Stan, gesturing for him to finish. "This time we heard him calling for someone," Stan answered, then looked away in hurt, so did Pete.

"Who?" Arianna asked eagerly, eyeing them with her curious green eyes, hands together over her heart, and after a moment, they answered in unison.

"His mother."

The queen's eyes went wide, then they softened in pain, Arianna's heart broke, her hands slowly covered her mouth.

"Oh dear," she whispered through her fingers, took a deep breath and straightened herself.

"I'll...I'll see him tonight, who knows, maybe this time he will open up,"

"You should have seen him, Attila!" Uncle Monty grunted, taking a big bowl of purple sweet dough, adding more ingredients into it, and diluting it with some water, Attila Buckethead was behind, holding a big empty barrel then putting it next to the machine. "The boy was as peppy and joyful as a little pup!" The old man continued.

After the shop was closed, the two decided to taste the sweet shifter. Monty sighed holding the bowl as he walked next to Attila. "And now he holds all that anger and hate towards everyone," He handed the ruffian the bowl.

"That's one salty cookie," Attila spoke, his voice vibrated because of his bucket helmet. "Well, we have nothing to do but to wish good for him," he told the old man with a hand on his shoulder, "Now let's try this machine of his." He said positively, letting the dough into the machine through a conical entrance, then going to its side and turning a circular handle three times, he and Monty backed away when the machine started heating up, loud noise of steam being pumped through pipes was heard, when they expected the dough to fall into the shapes, a huge amount of it was splashed into their faces.

They stared at the machine for seconds, Attila's head fell in disappointment. "I'm not wishing good for him," he said sadly. Monty's face was red from anger, under the purple because of the dough, "I'm going to snatch the daylight out of him!!" He groaned and walked toward the door, his footsteps banging heavily on the floor. Attila stood there wiping off the dough from his bucket, then he turned his face up and gasped in surprise. "Uncle Monty! Look!" Attila exclaimed. Monty turned around to find the machine working perfectly, the dough was filling the shapes which were attached to the rubber belt, it heated up and the dough became solid, the belt moved and the purple colored candies fell onto the barrel, various of them, the two watched gladly as the barrel was almost full.

The moon was shining brightly at the end of the day, the streets were left empty and there was no sound but the songs of the grasshoppers and the blowing of the nighty cold breeze. The light of the moon creeped into Varian's room, but there was light from the lanterns in the hall outside his room as well, he was sitting on the chair, his hands and head rested on the table, talking quietly to Ruddiger who was on the table near him, he told the raccoon about his nightmare and what happened during his work, the critter was one great listener, who chittered anxiously when Varian burried his face face in his hands after finishing his speech.

"I don't know, buddy," He mumbled, then raised his head, he sighed with unease, his hand reached to stroke the raccoon's fur. "Do you think I'm going...insane?" He seemed surprised by his own words, but not much as the raccoon who shook his head violently and chittered in disagreement. Varian heard footsteps fading away, and others getting close.

"Please don't say such things," A soft voice called from his side, then a shadow fell upon his floor. Varian knew its owner very well, and turned his head to look at the Queen standing behind the bars of his room, Ruddiger couldn't help but smile at her, Varian blinked for seconds, looking at her face with the small smile on it, his eyes hardened then he shifted his gaze to his window. "What do you want?" He asked coldly, crossing his arms and leaning on his chair. Arianna has been visiting Varian since he came to the castle, she was trying as hard as she can to reason him, convince him that all of this could end if he let go of his anger and vengeance, but he didn't listen at all, and she has became used to his cold self, his sarcasm and mockery didn't get on her nerves.

"I came to check on you, how was your day?" She asked kindly, her smile still glimmering on her face.

"Just like every other miserable day here, thank you." He looked at the view of the city, which was sleeping tightly in the calm night. Arianna knew that it was no point to longer the conversation with him, so she tried to get into the main thing.

"Shouldn't you be asleep by now?" She asked raising an eyebrow, "It's a bit too late for-"

Varian scuffed, then turned to face her. "Well, why aren't you? Shouldn't the queen get her beauty sleep? Huh?" He fakely chuckled at his words then turned away again, Arianna frowned, taking it longer was useless.

"The queen can't have her beauty sleep when one of her citizens is struggling through an unexplainable series of dangerous evens." She spoke with a stern tune, making him look at her, then her solemn look softened. "I need to know what's exactly happening to you, Varian."

His eyes widened at her words, then he looked down at his hands, he really needed help, he really wanted someone to help, but not her, not them, he could never accept help from those who didn't help him when he was in need, his hands turned onto fists and he groaned with anger. "And why should I tell you?" Then he heard the sound of chittering, the raccoon was pleading him to tell the queen about it, but Varian was really stubborn.

"Varian, you should understand that I'm trying to help you," She said, her hand holding one of the bars.

"How many times I have to tell you?!" He exclaimed, "I. do not. need your help!" He threw his hands in the air, standing up and walking towards her. "Why don't you all just surrender and leave me alone?!" He asked bitterly, holding the metal bars, her hand let go of the bar but she stood firm in her place, she shook her head and smiled sadly. "Surrender is not an option." She said calmly, his eyes went wide.

"When danger threatens what's loved, surrender is not an option."

A voice echoed in Varian's mind, suddenly the pain exploded again, he yelped and went back a few steps, his hair filled the gaps between his fingers as he held his head, "Varian!" He heard the queen gasping, his feet tripped and he fell backwards, he heard Ruddiger chittering, his head hit the tip of the chair harshly and he fell to the ground with a loud thump. Arianna stood there for seconds, her hands were trying to reach for him before he fell, but they couldn't. "Varian? Varian are you alright?" She called for him but he didn't move, she gasped more, such a hit should not cause fainting in normal situations, Ruddiger rushed down the table towards Varian, his little paws shook the boy's head as he chittered loudly, the raccoon looked at the queen, asking for help, Arianna held her dress in hands then ran through the hall.

"P- Pete! Stan! Get the keys, he's badly hurt!!"

 **Words Count: 3413.**


	4. CH: 3 (Compassion For Him)

• **|°°|•|°°|•**

"I know your feelings towards him, Fredric, but the situation he's in is very threatening,"

"Arianna, dear, I, too, know that you care for him, but what if he is faking it all?"

"Pete and Stan said that they heard everything shattering at the same second, it's not possible by any means of logic that he broke everything,"

"Darling, I just don't want him to hurt you,"

"He's a child inside a cell, with no weapons or such, and I have two of the best guards by my side, don't you worry, I will be alright,"

"I am aware of that, but I didn't mean the pain in that way,"

•

It was going to be another beautiful sunny day in the land of Corona, as the sun welcomed her kingdom once again. In the borders of the land stood the great Wall of Corona with all its might, the wall that witnessed this kingdom's history since ages and ages, the wall that kept the mysteries of Corona inside, away from those who seek the worst for the kingdom.  
Outside of the wall, there was a big huddle of people, horses, carts and carriages, different types of animals inside cages, and about nine huge elephants. The people's voices chatted loudly, waiting for the massive gate of the land to open up and welcome them. In front of them all, a woman with dark skin and bushy black hair was on a horse, gripping the horse's reins and staring up at the wall with narrow eyes, that's when the loud blow of a horn was heard, a confident smile appeared on the woman's face as the doors slowly cracked open. Behind her, the people cheered, the horses neighed, and the elephants let their voices loud with excitement and happiness. The huddle slowly advanced behind their leader through the huge doors, smiles and grins on their faces, happy to return to Corona, again.  
A beautiful black mare slowly stepped next to the woman in the front, on the mare's back was a young girl, sitting on the horse with both her legs at the same side, her long flaming red hair fluttered with the small amount of the fresh morning breeze, her white dress fitted neatly on her, her hands were holding tightly to the horse's saddle, and her cheerful light brown eyes stared around the area in awe, she and the woman looked at each for seconds, then shared a deep excited giggle. The girl gestured for her made to walk back, the critter didn't question it at all and turned to walk on the opposite way, the girl looked fascinated by the sight of the massive doors closing the light behind them, then her mare came to a halt near one of the carts then turned to face the right direction again, keeping pace with the moving carriage. The girl balanced herself to stand on the mare, she gripped her dress, and after a moment of focusing, she jumped high onto the cart, the mare neighed a laugh when the girl almost fell after grabbing the tip of the cart's roof, she pulled herself up with her arms and gradually her whole body was standing on the roof, then she called for one of the elephants, the massive creature heard her, and in response, he wrapped his tall gray leather nozzle around her middle, and lifted her up, placing her of his back, she thanked the creature silently and stood up, her first look was at the castle's island ahead, far away behind the blue sea, she felt shivers in her body at the idea of crossing the long bridge.  
Then there was a certain thing that she wanted to see, her excited eyes searched the wall with a grin on her youthful face, she pushed a strand of her hair away from her eye, attaching it to the white flower on her hair, observing the things near the wall, she was looking for a certain small lovely village in the distance, and a small castle that she loved to see even though it barely appeared.  
Her smile fell and her eyebrows furrowed at the view, at the glitter and gleam of the many inky blue spikes, then she realized that they covered everything. Her eyes went wide, she rapidly turned to the other side, only to find more of them, she looked at the road before her, they sprouted there as well. Her gaze shifted back to the village, her eyes softened with pain at the horrifying sight.  
A big part of the wall was broken, thought it was being rebuilt, letting the light shimmer on the many and many black spiky rocks. Near the gap in the wall was the castle, utterly destroyed with huge similar rocks penetrating it's old walls. The whole village was in the same situation, those rocks sprouted and destroyed everything on its path. She finally understood what was the path coming out of Corona. She slowly sat down, holding her knees close to her chest. closing her eyes for she couldn't bear more.  
The elephant stopped eventually, so did the whole huddle, as the people stood shocked at the rocks around them, their voices were now whispers of concerns and confusion.  
Then a glint of a green light twinkled on her eyes, she opened them hesitantly, the light annoyed her eyes, she held her hand up to shadow it, and then she searched for its source, it was coming from one of those rocks, at the tip of it, was something metallic brown, big and strange. She tilted her head curiously, then hopped down the back of the creature to the the cart and then to the ground, running towards the strange figure, gripping her dress to prevent tripping on it, avoiding the many rocks on her way, she reached the big spiky figure and her reflection appeared dimly on it, she lifted her gaze up, the rock was sprouted through what seemed to be a human-like big machine of thick metal, it sprouted right through his back, making his head, hands and legs dangle loosely in a violent way. On his head, her fingers graced the rounded green glass that appeared to be his eyes, she turned around to find more of _it_ crushed and shattered over the rocks, she was frightened, staggered, asking herself what could have happened in what used to be a calm small lovely village called Old Corona.  
The bushy haired woman came from behind, she looked confused as well, but then put a hand on the girl's shoulder, smiled warmly at the girl, gesturing for her to get back to the huddle, the girl smiled back and nodded, the older female walked back, the girl's gaze was fixed on the castle for seconds, a curious glint in her eyes called for her to go and see what was inside, and she also caught the hint of something shiny burned yellow in there,, but she pushed it off and followed her friend so that everyone will continue their journey.

 **•**

 _"Stay here, stay_ _safe."_

Varian opened his eyes wide in the next morning as another soft voice echoed in his mind.  
The warm stream of evening light fell upon the floor of Varian's room, after the events of yesterday's night, the hit on his head caused a painful feeling to it whenever he moved, and also a part of his back felt numb. The medic of the castle took care of him and he was told to take rest and enough sleep, but he didn't cooperate. And around launch time, he layed there on the bed on his back, his eyes casted on the roof, he looked almost lifeless, but his chest raised and fell peacefully, with his raccoon sleeping on it, Varian looked down at Ruddiger, the critter refused to sleep unless the boy did, so Varian faked sleeping until Ruddiger fell fast in it, he couldn't let his little friend suffer with him, his hand rested on the calm sleepy creature as he looked up at the ceiling again, he tried to absolve what he has seen and heard in his mind. The mark, the hand, the voice and words, they all seemed too familiar yet too strange, he felt like he had heard it once, felt like he touched that hand once, but his memory told him nothing about it. His eyelids gradually fell, but he immediately opened them up again, squeezing the dark bags under his eyes, he couldn't let himself sleep, he didn't want to see that beast again, he didn't want to see his mother's frightened face telling him to run, he didn't want to hear her pleading tune calling for him to keep a distance, he couldn't bear it. He inhaled deeply, gazing at his window, remembering her begging words. Suddenly, realization hit him like a horse kick.

 _"I know you're tired of it."_

His mind went bewildered, if all of this was just a dream in his head, how can his mother know that he's tired of his nightmares, he started asking himself, then when he actually thought about it, she spoke as thought she was _really_ there.  
Thought his memory was good, Varian can't clearly remember how he lost his mother, and he can barely picture how the life was when she was around, only some good remainders of the love and joy she wrapped him in. But he knows that she's not here, not in his life anymore. He was cerebrating that her presence in his dreams was out of longing for that feeling of protection that he missed in his life since that moment when his father saved his son's life. He thought that it was something made up by his mind, but still, an unrecognizable monster cannot be made up by his mind either. He began to doubt if the nightmare was even in his mind. But after all, there was something that he couldn't deny, with the immense amount of fear he felt, he felt a tiny hint of joy the first time he dreamed it, because he's got to see his mother's face again, he's got to see those blue eyes he inherited from her again, and for him, it was all bittersweet.  
"Wish you were here," He said out loud in longing, the picture of her smiling tender face in his mind, then he sighed closing his eyes, letting that picture last.  
The queen has been standing next to his bars since a minute, examining the puzzled look on his face, that turned to obvious despond and pain, and she happened to hear him as well. "Who?" The word slipped out of her mouth, her voice alarmed his attention, he weighed himself on his elbows and turned to look at her with surprise, causing dizziness to fill his head as he groaned and grabbed his head. Arianna's expressions turned worried, she immediately told Pete to open the door, the guard looked unsure at first, but she give him a nod and a reassuring smile, then he obeyed and opened the door to let her in, her hands reached for the boy and helped him to lay down, he flinched at her touch and winced at the pain in his head, but then a smile of relief graced her face when his tensed body calmed down and he give up. After a second, he opened his eyes and looked at her with mixed emotions, pain, none trust and hate, hardly disbelieving her, he knows what's she's trying to do.  
This woman was someone who he kidnapped, threatened, and almost crushed at a moment of rage, he knows the amount of damage he caused, but now she was before him, treating him like any other person who's done nothing wrong.  
Arianna softly removed her hand from under his head, then smiled sadly at him. Out of all the people, Arianna was the one to truly understand Varian's situation, she knew that all the anger and hate that he feels was out of hurt and damage, of lake of aid given to a miserable abandoned child, Arianna blames herself for not acknowledging the state of her citizens, and she also knew the feeling of being parted from a loved one, her daughter was taken away from her once, a precious child was taken away from a loving mother, and the only way to heal those wounds is by giving compassion and kindness towards the wounded, and what else can she give to a heart split apart like his  
But what she didn't know that he had read her, and he had sworn that she could give all the kindness she's got, but she will never breakthrough the thick crust of cold emotions that he shielded his heart with.  
Now that he layed still, Arianna walked back to the door, Varian felt good when his mind told him she was leaving, but she wasn't leaving, she took an item, a full basket, from the side, placing it neatly next to Varian's vase of flowers, after gazing at the the boy, Arianna got a serious face and took the chair to sit next to the boy, her hands calmly on her lap. And Stan stood by her side now, making sure that Varian will do nothing against the queen.  
"How is your head?" She asked beaming down at the boy, his expressions fell and he took interest on the wall next to him, ignoring her words, she frowned at his reaction and interlaced her fingers together. Then took a deep calming inhale. "I've got the whole day leisure, and so you do," She continued, earning the smallest glare from his side. "Varian, listen, what's happening to you is a serious situation, a dangerous one, and I've been given the permission to help you-"  
"I don't want your help." He interrupted her speech, speaking as thought to himself rather than her, his eyes narrowed at the wall with bitterness.  
Silence fell, but Pete the guard cleared his throat, the queen's gaze turned to him and he gestured to the maid that now stood near the bars frame and was holding a tray of food in her hands, Freidborg.  
The queen smiled at her lady-in-waiting, she walked over to the maiden and took the tray, she thanked Freidborg in a whisper, the maid grinned widely, she leaned and waved a hand at Varian cheerfully, curtsied then walked off. The queen put the tray gently on the table, next to a small notebook, then sat back on the chair, the delicious smell of food didn't have any effect on Varian, but Ruddiger's nose sniffed it in his sleep, with his eyes close half asleep, the raccoon followed the scent with his nose in the air, Varian and Arianna, and even Stan, watched as he fell down the bed, walked across the room to the table, then he hit his head with the table's leg, causing it to shake and the notebook had fallen to the ground.  
This notebook was given to Varian so he would design the sweet shifter in it, then it was left in his room, to be taken today if the boy happened to write any escape plans, but it will be left if not.  
Stan couldn't help but chuckle at the critter, then cleaned his throat and stood with his hands clasped professionally behind his back.  
Varian almost cracked a smile at his raccoon, who rubbed his furry face, the critter chittered happily when he saw Varian with half a smile that disappeared in a flash, the queen as well felt pleased to see him like this. Ruddiger looked up at the queen and Stan then chittered more in greeting, Arianna smiled at the critter as he climbed up the bed next to his friend, then he pouted when he saw how tired Varian was.  
 _"Varian! I thought you were asleep!"_ Ruddiger chittered annoyed. _"You tricked me!"_  
Varian sensed the unpleasant in Ruddiger's noises and felt bad for tricking his companion, but he doesn't have a choice. The queen tried to understand the interaction between the two, then she figured it right. "You didn't sleep as told, did you?" Varian was avoiding her eyes again, making her more concerned.  
"Varian," She addressed him. "Please,vwhat would you lose if you told me about it?"  
Varian's face got tired of expressing feelings, he looked blankly at the wall near him and thought about her question, what will he lose? He was already losing his arrogant dignity by not coming back with any words, but did that really matter?  
Suddenly a tiny growl of a stomach called their attention, it was Ruddiger's.  
Varian looked up at his little friend and raised an amused brow at the raccoon, the critter covered his face under his tiny paws sheepishly, Arianna couldn't help but giggle at the critter. "Someone is hungry, right Ruddiger?"  
She approached the table and took the tray of food in her hands, turned around and saw the notebook on ground, the first page of it was opened, and the sketch on it caught Arianna's eyes, she slowly put the tray back and bent down to pick up the notebook, she observed the drawing with curious eyes, it was a large black figure, with large hands, claws and fangs, and long ugly twisted horns, the monster from Varian's nightmares. She glanced at the boy, then back at the sketch.  
"Varian, what is that?" She asked, showing him his notebook and pointing at the figure, Varian looked at her from the corner of his eye, he thought that it was one of his designs so he moved his head to take a clear look, then he struggled to not show his emotions as his back slowly faced the queen, but Arianna noticed the glint of fear in his eyes. "Is that what you have been seeing in your dreams?" Varian flinched at the thought, and she took it as a yes. Arianna sat again near him, she bit her lip at the sketch, it was a real scary thing, even Stan felt uncomfortable about it. Arianna felt like she's seen the figure before, but she couldn't remember where. Ruddiger cooed at her, knowing that she's the only hope he has, Arianna looked helplessly down at her hands, her eyes narrowed in thoughts. She didn't want to bring such a subject up without warning, she didn't want to hurt the boy, more than he's already, but it's the only way for him to talk, she has to, she has to open what she believed was a deep wound in his heart, well stitched by good memories and love, far away from his fresh injuries, forgotten in his past.  
"You know that Pete and Stan told me what happened," She dared to say, Varian eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. "Pfft, of course, reporting the situation of their top criminals," Varian scuffed with an eyes roll.  
Arianna ignored his words and continued, "What about your mother?"  
His shoulders tensed at her words, Arianna watching him closely as he was cracked by surprise for a second, but he put himself together. "I don't know what you're talking about!" His tune went defensive, his teeth clenched as he glared at the stones of the wall. "Your mother, Varian," She repeated, "Was she in your dream?"  
The queen's inquiries were getting far more than Varian expected, and he thought that she put her nose in the wrong place, anger rushed through his body, she has no right to talk about his mother by any means! He thought.  
"It's none of your business!" He shouted, finally turning to face her with rage. Stan was alerted by the boy's moves, he quickly caught him by the shoulders, thought Varian was already losing strength on his own, due to the pain in his head and the tiredness he's in, placing him back on the pillow, Varian's heart beating hardly in his chest from the sudden action, and his breaths refused to pace steadily. He opened one of his eyes, glancing at the queen from its corner, her concerned figure stood before, and through his shaky breaths he managed to tell her two words. "Get. Out."  
Queen Arianna opened her mouth to speak, but words had failed her and she looked down sadly. She clasped her hands together and walked towards the door, but before she went out, Stan following her, she stopped and held the frame of the door, looking at him determinedly.  
"I will have you know that I'll be back, I'm not giving up on you, we..we are trying to fix it, to make it up to you, if only you could cooperate," Then she disappeared from his sight.  
Varian winced at the cracking noise of the bars as they were slowly closed beside him. Ruddiger slowly made his way under Varian's arm, purring as he gently leaned his head and paw on the boy's chest, hearing his rapid heartbeats, Varian calmed down eventually, stroking the raccoon's fur pensively as he stared at the ceiling, his mind preparing to calculate some things.

•

A few hours later Varian sat upright on his bed, his hands hugging his knees with his chin resting on them. Watching the sunset taking place out of his room, out of this prison he's in, longing for his days of freedom, that life back when he had the choice if he wanted to watch it from the windows of his castle or from the distance of the fields in Old Corona.  
 _"To make it up to you,"_  
His hand clenched into fists, is that their idea of making things up? He questioned mentally, then sighed again, his hand reached downwards for his raccoon, wanting to feel the coat of fur, but instead he felt nothing, his eyes casted beside him in response, then they searched the room for Ruddiger, and he spotted the gray figure, sitting silently next to the window, with his stripy tail curled around him, his small green eyes twinkling with light as he was watching the view outside, certainly the forest.  
Varian's heart ached, guilt ruled his emotions as he looked at the raccoon, realizing how much Ruddiger missed the woods in Old Corona, true Ruddiger was mostly a pet, like other house pets, to Varian, but the boy would never forbid his raccoon from wandering around and being free to go to the woodland whenever he wants, Varian couldn't bear seeing his friend suffering like that.  
"Ruddiger," Varian called softly. The raccoon's ears pricked up hearing his name, he faced his master with wondering eyes. "Come here buddy." Varian requested, sitting cross legged with his arms open for the critter, eyes watching Ruddiger as he obeyed and hopped up the bed into Varian's warm embrace, leaning into his chest and placing his paws on the boy's arm, Varian let go from the hug, one of his hands remained around his little friend, and the other ran through the gray fur. Ruddiger glanced back to the window, then he looked down, his ears turning flat on his head, saddened. Varian watching him the whole time, with eyes about to water. He hesitated, but dared to say the next.  
"You- you don't have to do this," Ruddiger's ears went up again, surprised by the words of his owner, chittering worriedly as he looked at Varian with wide eyes. The boy sighed deeply. "To- to go with me through all this...all this mess! I- I can't handle seeing you like this, I don't want you to be punished for things that _I_ have done!" Varian paused, his eyes never leaving Ruddiger's. He swallowed a lump in his throat, then looked down in sorrow. "If- if you want," His voice wavered. "I- I can- I can ask them to-..to let you go, you don't _have_ to stay with me, Ruddiger, you can be free,"  
 _"Is he kidding?"_ Ruddiger couldn't help but mentally ask himself, and he stared at the window. After all what happened, after all this time and struggle, and when Varian is truly in need, he wants his dear friend just to leave, what Varian didn't know is that Ruddiger didn't long to freedom, in fact, it's freedom for him when his only family is in prison, Ruddiger longed for those days he would spend with Varian out there, the times they worked in the lab, the fun they had together, and as for the forest, true it was his first shelter, but where he's with Varian, then that's his home, _Varian is his home._ And he also missed the trips to the forest in order to collect some supplies for whatever subjects Varian was working on. Ruddiger knew that he will never leave this boy, the whole world is nowhere to go without him. Then he faced Varian again, the boy couldn't hide his fear of being parted from the raccoon, from the only being who didn't betray him, the only being who deserves the kind and tender side of Varian, but he wanted his friend to be happy, and that's something important to him.  
Ruddiger shock his head, to Varian's immense relief, and great surprise as well, the creature put his tiny paw on Varian's hand, chittering friendly as a toothy smile appeared on his face. Varian stared wide eyed at the raccoon for seconds, Ruddiger's expressions softened, then he butted his head under Varian's chin cheerfully, more joyful chitters coming from him, Varian stood dumbfounded by the raccoon's actions, then he let out a shaky relieved breath, tears filling the corners of his eyes, he closed his eyes hugging the critter tightly, letting the them down. After seconds, he pulled away grinning at his friend with tears streaming down his face, holding him with both hands, Ruddier taking notice of the tears, attached his forehead with the boy and used his tiny paws to cup Varian's cheeks to wipe away the tears, the boy chuckled under the touch of his raccoon, letting more tears down with each blink. "Heh, Heh! Thank you, bud," Varian let amused huffs. "You're such a good boy, Ruddy," Varian said with a tired, heartbroken, short laugh.

"You're a good boy."

•  
 **Words Count: 4390.**  
 **The end of this was the easiest of it, tbh. So far, do you like the thing?**  
 **Amazing art above credits to an amazing person, Codynaomiswire on Tumblr!**

• **°°.°°•|•°°.°°•**


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